Tokyo, Wednesday, June 16, 2010, 8 p.m. — The day started out rainy, but it quickly became mushiatsui — hot hot hot and humid. We had a leisurely morning at the hotel before heading out on the Yamanote to a trip to Tokyo’s westside to show Asma and Ibrahim some of the sights. We rode the escalators at Takashimaya Times Square, wandered through Shinjuku Station — 2 million people pass through this station each day — and ate soba noodles on the 13th floor of a depaato, or department store.

We then went to the Tokyo Mosque nearby, a quiet oasis above the bustle of the hot streets. We saw the beautiful stained glass windows, lovely domes and took lots of photos to send home to Rehan. The Ahmads have a wonderful tradition of seeking out mosques in all the international cities they visit. The juxtapositon of the Japanese calligraphy and Arabic script carved into the white stone of the mosque was very cool. We then braved the hot streets again, the boys fortified by miruku tea purchased from vending machines.

We made our way to Omotesando, haute couture central in Japan, and visited Comme des Garcons, one of Asma’s favorite designers. We walked down the relative “cool” of the leafy, shaded Omotesando, past an incongruous Shakey’s pizza to the infamous Kiddyland, birthplace of “Snowby,” Will’s first true stuffed animal love purchased 4 1/2 years ago. Will got a new Tokyo Snoopy to give Snowby a Japanese speaking buddy.

Melting from the heat, we caught a cab to the Hachiko statue at Shibuya Station, where they boys posed in their new Japan World Cup jerseys (Will is Nakazawa, Ibrahim Nakamura) purchased at the nearby Tokyu Department store. They had on matching shorts and have been drawing stares ever since because they are so darned adorable.

We ended yet another fun exhausting day at Dhaba Indian restaurant near our hotel, which trilled Asma with its authentic south Indian food, including a totally delicious biryani and meat/potato filled dhosas. It was totally delicious, and we were sorry our other guys weren’t with us to enjoy it. Asma just reminded me that it was at an Indian restaurant in Portland that we first hatched the idea of traveleing together in Japan. Sooo glad we did it. Boys bathed, we are enjoying the last brief wi-fi we have before setting off to Kyoto tomorrow to experienced a totally different side of Japan.